Newsletter

Prep wrestling: Clarke Central qualifies for state duals meet again

The top-seeded and host Gladiators (27-4) were narrowly defeated 34-33 by Loganville in the tournament’s championship finals on Saturday, but Clarke Central came back to best Rockdale County 49-24 to qualify for the Georgia High School Association State Team Duals Championship for the second consecutive year.

“I’m happy to be going to the state tournament but I’m dissatisfied with our performance,” said Clarke Central coach Tim Stoudenmire. “We were the No. 1 seed and we should have won the tournament. In the finals, we found a way to lose it instead of finding a way to win it.”

After defeating Winder-Barrow 62-18 in Friday’s second round and then topping Flowery Branch 42-24 on Saturday, Clarke Central was poised to face Loganville (which defeated Apalachee and Rockdale) for the area duals championship.

The Gladiators jumped out to a 16-6 lead, but Loganville — which is making its third consecutive trip to Macon as 8-AAAA champions — recorded three pinfalls in the final seven matches to pull out the one-point victory. Stoudenmire said his team was assessed a one-point penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct during the match, a point which turned out to be the difference between first and second place.

“We had our opportunities to score bonus points, which would have made a difference in the outcome, and we didn’t take advantage of those opportunities and that ended up hurting us in the end,” Stoudenmire said.

“We talked to our kids all week about not giving up bonus points and scoring bonus points when we can and battling to the last whistle,” said Loganville coach Pat McCance. “This is a great bunch that does a great job, fights hard and is a pleasure to coach. It’s been an awesome time with them.”

Since Clarke Central and Rockdale County (which slipped by Flowery Branch 28-27 in the consolation finals) had not met in the tournament, the Bulldogs challenged the Gladiators for “true second place.”

Alonzo Milton (220 pounds) and Demond Stovall (285) opened the match against Rockdale County with a pair of pinfall victories and the Gladiators jumped ahead 17-6 on a technical fall by Tim Geigerich at 113.

David Fisher (126), Kadeem Combs (who scored a pin at 138), C.J. Williams (who had a major decision at 152) and Jackson Fleurnvill (160) also posted victories that gave the Gladiators enough points to force the Bulldogs – who had no way to catch up -- to forfeit the final two matches.

Although Stoudenmire was not happy with missing out on receiving the championship trophy, he was pleased the Gladiators were able to post a significant victory over Rockdale County.

“I was pleased with the fact that we wrestled back against Rockdale and solidified our spot as runners-up and I’m excited to be going to Macon,” he said. “We did what we should have done. We should have wrestled them the way we did and we should have scored 40 or 50 points, so I feel good about that.”

AREA 8-AAA: At Watkinsville, North Hall scored a pinfall in its final match against Chestatee to come back from a three-point deficit and win the areas duals championship at Oconee County. Both North Hall and Chestatee will represent the area at next week’s state duals.

White County finished third, with Lumpkin County in fourth and Oconee County placing fifth.

“The difference between the top five teams was basically a match,” said Oconee County coach Al Yauck. “We lost to North Hall by nine points – we had two wrestlers who were ahead in their matches and got flipped on their backs and were pinned. That really turned the tide.”

The Warriors faced White County for a shot at third place and the match ended tied at 32-32, but White County was declared the victors on a tiebreaker, earning five pins to Oconee County’s four.

AREA 8-AA: At Jefferson, the Dragons won the area duals championship for the 11th consecutive time and will be joined by Elbert County at next week’s Class AA state duals tournament in Macon.

Jefferson punched its ticket for state with a 57-6 victory over second-seeded Elbert County. The Dragons’ path to the championship finals began Friday night, when they defeated Oglethorpe County (which had beaten Hart County) 80-0 in the second round and continued Saturday morning with a 62-3 victory over Jackson County, which finished fourth after defeating East Hall and losing to Banks County.

AREA 2-A: At Gainesville, Commerce had little trouble en route to its third consecutive area duals championship, winning eight matches in the finals to dispatch second-place Social Circle 49-25.

The Tigers, who defeated George Walton and Wesleyan in Friday’s opening rounds, collected six pins against Social Circle in Saturday’s matches at Riverside Military Academy.

“We really stepped up to the challenge,” said Commerce coach Kendall Love. “We’re a young team and I wasn’t really sure how we’d react, but we wrestled well and got the job done. It wasn’t as tight as I thought it would be.”